"Mark Carver" wrote in message
...
:Jerry: wrote:

First rule taught to all in the motor trade, ALWAYS depress the
clutch (or put the left foot on the brake if the vehicle is an
automatic) BEFORE operating the starter, a sloppy / mal-adjusted
gear leaver can give the 'appearance' of being in neutral (or park)
but not actually being so.

In the case of an Auto, you can't even start the engine if it's in
anything other than Park or Neutral [1].

As you point out yourself below, in footnote #1, you are quite wrong
in that comment!

I drove a hire car Honda
once that would not accept the ignition key unless the selector was
in 'Park' That was a case of RTFM to figure out what on earth was
going on.
My Peugeot 406 will not come out of Park, until the engine is
running, which could be a PITA if it breaks down in that mode.

[1] That's not to say if the interlock has a fault, that it wouldn't
start 'in gear', but hey, **** happens.


Yes, **** happens but a bit of thought prevents much of it happening,
it's a bit like a lighting rigger not bothering to use the safety
chain "because the clamp never fails" and then saying "Oh well, ****
happens" after the talent below gets killed by the spot failing on
him....